Cruise to Danger
by Genius Flyboy
Summary: After the death of Cindy's parents, the gang go on a cruise. But when people start to die and the ship is wrecked, they realize there's a killer, and heshe is someone onboard! Will they be able to stop him? JC and SL. Thriller
1. Chapter 1

Alright, here's the deal, you may or may not have noticed that I haven't really updated my stories recently, and the reasoning for that is simple, I had Freshmen Final Exams, or FFE's as I call them, which I claim stands for a variety of profane things I don't think I should discuss. Anyway, now, you probably don't care, but my school year is officially over as of Friday, and I'm in a huge ship in the middle of the ocean, seriously, I'm on a carribean cruise, so, I'll be busy relaxing (oxymoron, I know). So, the only story I'll really be working on is this one, Cruise to Danger, which sprang from me being on a cruise, I'll have it done before the end of my cruise, ten days from now, so enjoy around an update or two a day! Thanks, this story, as you will soon learn is dedicated to our good friend and fellow writer quietthinker!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Jimmy Neutron, any related characters or trademarks, I also do not own Royal Caribbean cruise lines, or any other copyrighted or trademarked material.

**Author's Note: **This story is dedicated to quietthinker! (The whole story)

**Tales From Another Broken Home**

Cindy heard the sound of breaking glass from downstairs as her father smashed another lamp. Her parents were getting a divorce and her father wasn't happy about it.

"Shit. Look, I'm really sorry Cind." Her boyfriend and debatably best friend said. (Libby and him are both her best friends in this one)

"It's not your fault." Cindy said dejectedly "I just wish I could get away from all of this." She threw down her AP physics book despairingly.

"It's not your fault either, it's their fault." Jimmy said consolingly putting his arm around her as they sat on her bedroom floor, leaning against a wall.

"And I can think of a way for us to get away." He said knowingly.

"And what might that be?" She asked.

"Can't tell you." He replied playfully, she punched him lightly.

"Fine, I surrender, how would you like to go on a ten-day cruise?"

She gaped at him. "Really?"

"Yep, I stopped those aliens from destroying Royal Caribbean's shipyard and they said I could have the Presidential Suite on any cruise I wanted. It's huge, with four bedrooms, a hot tub, a grand piano, living room, kitchen, balcony and concierge and room service."

"In one suite! How much would that thing cost?"

"Five thousand dollars, but for us it's free, we could take the others if you want, the cruise leaves June fifth." He told her, she sat there for a moment and then threw her arms around him, the fell over and started kissing passionately.

"Think about it…ten nights, just you and me…Libby would keep the others away…away from all this…" He said between kisses, he had invited the others, and Libby had volunteered to help keep them away from Jimmy and Cindy when they wanted to be alone, she could just tell Carl where the free ice cream bar was and enjoy some _quality time_, i.e. make out time with Sheen.

Their make-out session came to an end when they heard someone coming up the stairs; Jimmy touched a button on his watch and became invisible.

Cindy grabbed her physics textbook, straightened her hair and opened the book, pretending to read.

"Cindy dear." Her mother said, coming into the room.

"Oh. Yes mother."

"Your father left to go somewhere and I have a lunch with Libby's mother so you'll be here by yourself."

"All alone, we could have fun _studying_." Jimmy whispered in her ear, invisible, and she giggled softly.

"Sorry mom, sure, that's fine." Cindy said to her suspicious mother, surreptitiously elbowing Jimmy in the side.

Her mother left and Jimmy waited until they heard her car pull out before becoming visible again.

She jumped on him.

He just laughed and kissed her again.

Just then, Cindy's phone rang and she got up to answer it.

"Hey Libs…" Cindy said, and then fell silent.

"Alright then…okay, I'll be there." She said, hanging up.

"What is it?" Jimmy asked, a note of concern in his voice.

"Libby wants me to come over, she said she had a big problem and that she needed me right away, come on." Cindy said, running out the door. Jimmy stood for a minute and then turned to the open window and got out on her roof. He ran down it and then jumped eight feet onto the soft grass, waiting for Cindy.

"Did she tell you what is was she needed you for?" Jimmy asked as Cindy came out the front door.

"No." She said, running off down the street, Jimmy caught her, grabbed her waist and activated his rocket shoes. She held onto him and they headed off for Libby's house.

"That was your big problem?" Jimmy asked exasperatedly when they reached Libby's house and she had explained the problem.

"It is a big problem, deciding what dress to wear on your date requires careful decision making." Cindy said indignantly, defending her friend. Jimmy hit his head; he should've expected it to be something like this.

"Look, that one's great, that-help?" Jimmy said pointing at the dress in Libby's right hand.

"Yeah, that one's gorgeous." Cindy said helpfully.

"It is, but don't you think that this one goes better with my eyes?" Libby asked, looking at Cindy pointedly.

"I'm sure Sheen would be fine with…" Jimmy started, but Cindy silenced him with a look and began examining the two dresses.

Knowing this could take hours, Jimmy headed towards Libby's bedroom door.

"Libby, can I use your TV?" He asked politely. Libby waved to him distractedly.

"I'll take that as a yes." He muttered as he walked down the stairs.

"I'm gonna go to the Candy Bar." Jimmy called up the stairs, to Cindy. _I can probably find Carl somewhere there._ He thought, walking out Libby's front door and activating his jet shoes.

LATER ON

It was a Saturday, and as most people in Retroville High knew, on Saturday nights you could always find Jimmy and Cindy in the lab or Cindy's room, sometimes accompanied by Carl, Sheen or Libby. This particular Saturday night, Jimmy and Cindy were joking in Cindy's room, waiting for Carl, Sheen and Libby, Cindy was trying to convince Jimmy to play truth or dare when the others came and Jimmy was predicting all sorts of dire consequences that would result from this.

"Even you admit that's impossible."

"I don't know alien attacks seem to happen whenever we play that game."

"Only twice!"

"It's the weekend, I don't want to have to deal with an attempt at world domination on the weekends."

"We are playing and that's final."

"Well fine, but you take full responsibility of the Yolkians attack again."

"Alright," Cindy said. "Now which movie do you want to watch?"

"I was thinking a Sci-Fi flick, we've seen romantic stuff the past three Saturdays in a row."

"Well I got The Notebook, so too bad." Jimmy feigned despair and pretended to stab himself with a pencil.

As Jimmy lay on the floor, in a comic, over exaggerated dead pose, they head shouting from downstairs.

"Fucking bitch! Shut the fucking hell up!" They heard a man shout. Cindy stood bolt upright.

"I'm sorry Cindy." Jimmy said, shutting the bedroom door, thinking it would probably be better for her not to hear the fight.

However, no door could block out what they heard next.

"FUCK YOU!" A man yelled and they heard the resonating crack of a gunshot.

Cindy jumped to her feet and barreled past Jimmy, rushing out of her bedroom door, Jimmy ran after her.

"Don't!" He called, but she was already at the stairs, he set his watch laser to it's highest setting and padding softly after her, staying cautiously at the bottom of the stairs, he hesitated before running out from there too, he saw Cindy's mother lying on the ground, clearly dead, and her father holding a smoking Colt handgun.

He had dropped the gun and was staring at Cindy's mother with a look of hatred when he saw Cindy, he picked up a wine bottle and smashed it on the coffee table, he had a makeshift knife as the gun had fallen behind where Cindy was standing in shock. He lashed out, slashing her arm as she charged him.

Not thinking, Jimmy reacted instinctively. He swung around and fired his laser, hitting Cindy's father in the arm, but it didn't stop him, he turned to Jimmy and stabbed him, Jimmy fell back clutching his arm and feeling hot blood under his hand. Cindy's father advanced further, but then Jimmy clutched his ears as a gunshot echoed just above and to the right of his head, he watched as her father jerked and crumpled to the floor, shot dead by Cindy.

Cindy shook uncontrollably and the smoking weapon fell from her limp grasp, she fell to the floor where she fainted from shock. Jimmy ripped off part of his shirt and tied it tight around his wound to stop the blood flow, he looked at Cindy, knew she would need help, her injury wasn't bad, but not all wounds are physical. He pulled out his cell phone and, feeling dizzy, dialed 911, he told them where he was and what had happened before collapsing himself.

A/N: I know, not exactly horror, but don't worry, this is one of those first chapters where everything is just setting up for the rest of the story. REVIEW!


	2. Chapter 2: To the Moon and Back

Yo guys, I know, I'm late with this chapter, but two today, promise. Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity to commend Mara S (ivory23 on Nick), Ally, gummiworld (On nick) and Cami on their brand new website, idreamofjimmy Alright, it's a totally awesome site, great music videos, AND almost all of the episodes, even ones that haven't aired here in America, I FINALLY GOT TO SEE KING OF MARS! They're not done doing some portions, but they've got some cool pics in the character profiles. Anyway, check it out, first link if you search idreamofjimmy just like that on Google. Check it out. Anyway, onward!

**Disclaimer:** I own it, I own it not! NOT1 I don't own anything patented or copyrighted, Jimmy or the gang.

**Flying to the Moon and Back**

_That's why she strays from human affection_

_But somewhere in a private place_

_She packs her bags for outer space_

_Now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come_

_And she'll say to him_

_Now we're flying to the moon and back if you'll be_

_If you'll you be my baby_

Ten days later, Jimmy, dressed in a new tuxedo put a comforting arm around his girlfriend, who had on a black mourning dress.

"It'll be okay, I'll always be here for you." He whispered in her ear, her parents had just been buried.

She flashed him a sad smile and walked up to the graves, covered with fresh earth and looked down, her eyes and cheeks bore the signs of someone who had been crying, but only over her mother. She walked up to her mother's grave and gently laid some flowers down in front of the headstone.

"I love you mom, and you've had revenge, I got him. I miss you do badly, but I know that you would want me to move on, like you always said, a Vortex doesn't dwell on anything. I will miss you though, and I love you, forever…" She said, her voice wavering and cracking, she straightened up and turned to her father's grave, her voice now cold, and hard.

"Rot in hell you damn bastard." She said, she looked over at Jimmy who was holding his gash wound gingerly, who smiled encouragingly.

She blinked her eyes to hold back tears and walked slowly toward him, away from the graves, when she reached him, she threw herself on him and held him in a soft, passionate kiss that he gladly returned.

Tears were streaming down her face now as he led her away.

"Alright guys, you all know that the cruise leaves tomorrow a 2:00 right?" Jimmy asked when they reached the lab, where the others had joined them.

"It's gonna be AWESOME! AND it's a murder mystery cruise!" Sheen cheered, pumping his fists in the air. (Mine isn't, but I thought this was a good idea)

"Yeah." Jimmy said softly, he was still thinking of the funeral, something was nagging at him, somewhere in the back of his mind, something wasn't right…

Cindy looked at him and their eyes met, he stared into the emerald pools that were her eyes and realized she was thinking the same thing, something was definitely wrong.

"So Jimmy, how big exactly is this place were staying on the boat?" Libby asked, you could hear the excitement in her voice, Jimmy thought, and so he decided to explain, once again!

"It's the presidential suite." Jimmy said, calling up a hologram on a holo-pedestal in the middle of the lab, it looked like a black pillar, hologram technology was something Jimmy had been working feverishly, and the image projected transformed the room into a completely realistic version of the suite they would be staying in, the furniture was solid too, and didn't fiz and turn into scrambled code when touched.

"Sweet!" Libby cried, running around frantically, Jimmy rolled his eyes and Sheen shot him a reproachful look.

"Cool Jim, but I gotta be home, and Good Llama's Gone Bad is on in ten minutes, and I gotta pack, so I'll see you guys tomorrow morning." Carl told them, checking his watch.

"See ya." Jimmy called after him. Sheen shrugged.

"OH MAN! Ultralord is on! IN THREE MINUTES!" Sheen yelled, remembering what time it was and sprinting to the exit, only to miss and slam into the wall. Libby sighed and followed him out, leaving Jimmy and Cindy alone.

Jimmy walked over to the holo-pedestal and pressed a few inconspicuous buttons that matched the onyx pedestal, instantly the room changed back to its normal appearance.

"Let's get something to eat." Jimmy suggested. But Cindy shook her head.

"Can we just…stay here, I d-don't want to b-be alone…what am I going to do?" She asked, _she looks miserable…_ Jimmy thought, the sight broke his heart as she put her head in her hands and sat down against the wall.

"It's okay, you can stay with me, I've got an extra bedroom, and I don't mind…" Jimmy said consolingly, he wrapped his arm around her and helped her up. "I'm not going anywhere, you'll be fine, I won't let anything happen to you." He said fiercely, and he meant it, he would give his life for her in a spilt second, no question. He would do anything for her. He had to protect her, little did he know that was going to prove much harder than he had expected in the days to come…

Over the years, Jimmy and Cindy had expanded the lab, it was now mammoth. Originally there had only been the main lab area and the large room where all of the inventions were stored, that room still existed, only it had been so large, that Jimmy and Cindy had cut it's height in half and used the top half to build bedrooms, a living room and an entertainment center. They had also expanded deeper underground and in every direction. Now the complex was like a large home, in addition to the lab part, which consisted of a series of large experimentation chambers, and anti-gravity tank, a wind tunnel, and a garage for all of the rockets and other vehicles they had built, Jimmy often slept in one of the bedrooms and was now working on a new addition, one which was secret to everyone except Cindy. He was building a series of tunnels that went all under Retroville.

Jimmy led her through a doorway and into the sizeable kitchen. "What do you want to eat?" He asked, he had a food synthesizer that looked like an oven and a large stock of drinks and snacks.

"Anything." She said miserably.

He turned to the synthesizer and set it to make a pizza. Turning to the refrigerator, he rummaged around and pulled out a six-pack of Purple Flurp, he set it down on the table and sat across from Cindy. She pulled a Flurp towards her, giving him a grateful look that made his heart turn over.

"I'd get you a Dom Perignon but I don't think it's proper." Jimmy said, sticking his nose in the air. She snorted and opened a purple flurp in his face, soda sprayed all over it.

"Hey!" He yelled diving over the table and grabbing at her. She dodged and teased him playfully, dashing past him around the table, to where the fridge was. He stood on the other side, facing her and contemplating his next move. He stood stock still, picking up a napkin from the table and wiping the flurp off of his face. She grinned playfully and opened the fridge, taking out a tall glass bottle of purple flurp (Like the bottles that Hugh and Eustace's father were drinking from in Billion Dollar Boy, they look like bottles of champagne)

She darted out from the other side of the table and started to run full tilt down the hallway, Jimmy charged after her.

He was gaining and she turned right, they were in the main bedroom and Cindy stopped, they both fell on the bed laughing and Cindy put the bottle on the bedside table.

He grinned at her and she returned it with a mischievous smile of her own.

"Door and lights." Jimmy said and they heard a cool feminine voice say, "Affirmative James."

"C'mon Vox, call me Jimmy." He said but the computer ignored him. The door locked and the lights dimmed, although not much. Cindy and Jimmy's clothes hit the floor softly and all was right in the world for that one glorious night…

BEEP BEEP BEEP

"…Nobel Prize…" Jimmy muttered, turning over and fumbling for the alarm clock, he finally found it and slammed down with his fist, breaking it.

"Damn…" He muttered groggily, sitting up in bed, the world swam before his eyes as he rubbed them to get rid of the sleep. He smiled as he remembered last night, and looked to his right to see Cindy, still asleep. He stood up and pulled on new boxers from the dresser, picking up his clothes and boxers from the floor and putting them in the cleaning box, which was a clear glass cube that washed, dried, pressed and folded clothes. He then neatly folded Cindy's clothes and undergarments and put them at the foot of her bed. He put on a white robe with his scarlet N atom logo embossed over the breast pocket and walked to the door.

Coming out of the shower, the air thick with steam from the boiling hot shower he had just endured, Jimmy felt much more awake and pulled on a pair of cargo shorts and a rather tight under-armor like shirt. He laced up his sneakers and started to pack for the cruise.

By the time Cindy was up and showered, he was packed and had synthesized pancakes for breakfast.

Cindy, in miniscule jean shorts and a tight shirt that made Jimmy gape as well as a pair of sunglasses she put on her head, walked into the kitchen and sniffed. She grabbed her plate full of pancakes, some syrup and started to eat voraciously.

When they were both done, she spoke. "Jimmy, last night was…amazing." She said breathlessly.

"Yeah, it was…don't forget to tell Libby that I wore protection!" He warned, Libby would slaughter him if she wasn't assured of this fact, and it was no use trying to lie, she would know what had happened.

"Uh huh." Cindy said, "I'd better pack."

After Cindy was packed and they had picked up the others in the new astro-car, Jimmy turned to the others.

"Guys, I just wanted to say that you're all great friends and I don't know what I'd do without you." Surprised by this sudden statement, the others nodded and Jimmy turned back around, pulling them in for a landing at the port, which was located in Florida, they had got there surprisingly fast, but it had a fast rocket engine.

Boarding took shorter than expected, and in no time, they were off to sea.

Jimmy and Cindy were in the hot-tub, Carl was, oddly enough, at the spa and Libby was watching Sheen try the rock-climbing wall.

"Come on Libby." He called down from his lofty perch.

"Oh all right." She gave in, strapping on a helmet, the instructor tightened her harness and she braced herself before mounting the steep wall.

Before they knew it that glorious first day was over, but the fun was just beginning, they changed into formal clothes and headed to the dining hall, where the murder-mystery part would start over a formal dinner.

Jimmy was looking dashing in Cindy's opinion in his tux and Cindy's new dress had blown Jimmy away. Libby too was looking stunning in her dress and Sheen and Carl had tuxedos on as well.

They found their table near the front of the dining hall, next to a porthole with a beautiful view overlooking the sparkling ocean, appearing magenta in the sunset.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a murder has been committed, the killer is one of you, it could be me, it could be anyone! The killer left only one clue, this note." The announcer said from a stage near the front, Jimmy and the others focused on him, Jimmy was determined to figure out who it was and take home the grand prize, it really could be anyone, a plant among the passengers…

"I…" The man started, but a waiter dressed in black dress pants and a white dinner jacket hurried onto the stage, they held a whispered conversation.

"Um, ladies and gentlemen, this is for real, what I'm about to tell you, I don't know how to say it, but it appears someone really has been killed, no it's not part of the show, someone here actually murdered Mr. Mark Richardson, he's dead, and someone here really is a killer…we…" He started, but just then there was a huge explosion and the ship rocked with the force of the blow, the last thing Jimmy saw was a table flying through the air, crashing towards him. Then everything went black…

A/N: So? Come on! How was it? REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3: Sinking Ship

Chapter three, done and done, hope y'all like it! Oh, and I would just like to say that all of your reviews blew me away, thanks a ton! I really appreciate it! Anyway, on with the story! P.S. Read the song lyrics and think about how they relate to JN. They're not directly relevant to the story, but I thought they were significant if you think about them in JN terms…try it!

**Disclaimer:** Nope, don't own, I know, tragic isn't it. But not all of us can be Keith Alcorn or Nickelodeon. No, I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters or trademarks. I also don't own anything else trademarked or copyrighted!

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to all of my wonderful reviewers: superdork398, acosta perez jose ramiro, badwolf1, VBallRoc18, cybercassie, LipGlossRox, xJCManiak12x, snowboarder9, phantomphan1992, retroville9, and stardust104

**CWS:** CWS stands for Chapter wall of shame…our first entry is the unfortunate greg9570…you can check out his review, I didn't think it fit to put in a chapter…this person thinks that someone (Mr. Vortex) who is going to kill his wife and daughter isn't going to swear, I say, if normal sane people say the F-word, an insane murderer sure would…if greg9570 is reading this…fight fire with fire…he also thought the starter chapter to a horror should have depth, Starter Chapter man!

**Sinking Ship**

_Crashed on the floor when I moved in _

_This little bungalow with some strange new friends_

_Stay up too late, and I'm too thin _

_We promise each other it's til the end_

_Now we're spinning empty bottles _

_It's the five of us _

_With pretty eyed boys girls die to trust_

_I can't resist the day _

_No, I can't resist the day_

…

_I'm so excited, I haven't spoken _

_And she's so pretty, and she's so sure_

_Maybe I'm more clever than a girl like her_

_Summer's all in bloom _

_Summer is ending soon _

_It's alright and it's nice not to be so alone_

_But I hold on to your secrets in white houses _

_Maybe I'm a little bit over my head_

_I come undone at the things he said _

_And he's so funny in his bright red shirt_

_We were all in love and we all got hurt _

_I sneak into his car's cracked leather seat _

_The smell of gasoline in the summer heat _

_Boy, we're going way too fast _

_It's all too sweet to last _

_It's alright_

_And I put myself in his hands_

_But I hold on to your secrets in white houses_

_Love, or something ignites in my veins _

_And I pray it never fades in white houses _

_My first time, hard to explain_

_Rush of blood, oh, and a little bit of pain_

_On a cloudy day, it's more common than you think_

_He's my first mistake _

_Maybe you were all faster than me_

_We gave each other up so easily _

_These silly little wounds will never mend_

_I feel so far from where I've been _

_So I go, and I will not be back here again_

_I'm gone as the day is fading on white houses _

_I lie, put my injuries all in the dust _

_In my heart is the five of us _

_In white houses _

_And you, maybe you'll remember me_

_What I gave is yours to keep _

_In white houses_

_In white houses_

_In white houses_

As I regained consciousness, my first thought was that I had fallen asleep in the lab and had fallen on the electro-shock dance teacher, every bone in my body was sore and I felt crispy, looking down I saw my shirt was smoking, my hair was slightly scorched and as I felt my face I felt bruises and a long cut.

"What happened?" Jimmy asked, staring up at the others, there was someone next to him as well, just out of his range of vision bending down over something in a way that obscured his face.

"Well, the table missed you thanks to me, but you got hit by a chair, full into the chest and flew smack into a wall, unfortunately the table had landed next to you and had caught fire from the explosion, but you should be fine, maybe just some tenderness." The mysterious figure explained, not looking up from whatever he was searching, it appeared to be a backpack of some sort.

"What happened to start the whole thing?" Jimmy asked, it was coming back to him, but only in bits and pieces.

"Ha." The figure said dryly, his voice bearing not a hint of humor, Jimmy knew he had heard that voice before, but where, he just couldn't put his finger on it. "An explosion, whoever killed that man set off an explosion, and he couldn't have picket a worse time, we kind of smashed into a huge jutting out of the sea. I'm not being precise, what we hit was the uppermost tip of an emerging seamount, not volcanic yet, it seems that the magma flow raised it before being diverted, maybe a massive plate shift." The figure explained. (A seamount is an underwater mountain, they slowly rise to become volcanoes over thousands of years, magma forcing the rock up and out.)

"Who are you?" Jimmy asked curiously, he wasn't going to waste time being polite when there was a killer on the loose.

"Don't you remember me Jimmy?" He asked, straightening up so his face could be seen, Jimmy stared at the familiar handsome features framed by curly light brown hair with brown eyes that sparkled with an intellect to match his own. James Christopher Rubin was just as much a genius as Jimmy, funny, rich, athletic and charming. He and Jimmy had had run ins over the past few years, including a while back when James had lived in Retroville and stolen Cindy from him.

James was an on again off again hero. He could prove selfless or he could be out to conquer reality. James was also an expert thief. He too had worked at BTSO and unlike Jimmy had spent hours honing his unarmed and armed combat skills and secret agent abilities. He could break in anywhere, take whatever he wanted and leave without anyone knowing he had been there. He sometimes carried a backpack that could hold limitless supplies and it always had his "tools" as well as inventions and hundreds of other things.

A few years back James had gone to medical school and was now a certified doctor and surgeon.

"Come on Jimmy. I want to help, I stopped being a criminal, honest, I have everything I want, what's the use of stealing anything when I can buy it?"

"You're the killer."

"Jimmy, if I was the killer, would I have saved your life?" He asked, their was no arguing with that.

"Alright, he's good to go, come on Jim, we've got to help the others, the explosion killed tons of them, we've got to rescue those we can and devise a plan to beat the murder, and lose the jacket." James said, he had changed from his tuxedo to black cargo pants, a bulletproof leather jacket and now was putting on a high-tech black helmet with a visor that covered his entire face and sealed at his neck, he spoke with a slightly altered computerized voice and his face was impossible to saee.

"Come on." He said, pulling Jimmy up and tossing him a jacket and a helmet. "Communicators, video camera, laser, magnetic beam, x-ray, med analysis, floodlight, bulletproof visor, infra-red, gas mask function, built in air tank, three-sixty degrees visibility the whole shebang." He told them, tossing similar helmets from inside his backpack to the others. "Come prepared I always say, boots, they'll anchor you to any surface, limited hover function too. Let's see…" He said tossing out pairs of black boots as well as pairs of cargo pants. "Fireproof, waterproof, tough too, attachments for grappling hooks, and other equipments. Here, grappling gun, dart gun, non-lethal, stim packs, that's got basic med supplies and some adrenaline injections. Um, and these." He said finally, tossing out the said supplies and one more thing to each. Compact black Sig Sauer P226 handguns, the finest handheld firearms on the market.

"What the hell are these for?" Jimmy asked, fingering the weapon.

"The killer." James said impatiently.

"No way!" Jimmy said firmly, he was taking no part in the weapon, the others nodded and threw back their guns.

"Fine." James said tossing them in the corner with his backpack. He however, loaded a Heckler and Koch MP5 assault weapon with scope and light. (As seen in MI-3, in the beginning, the weapon Ethan Hunt, or Tom Cruise carries is really an MP5 with a scope and floodlight attachment) He clipped two extra ammo clips to his belt and kicked down the door of the bathroom they were in.

Without looking back, James headed off down a side passage. They could hear his voice in their helmet radios.

"Split up, cover more ground, tell all survivors to stay together and form a circle, keep watch in every direction, I have some experience in this. Get everyone into whatever's left of the Windjammer Café on the third deck, better to stay in a group…don't…alone…" He was breaking up. Jimmy pulled off his helmet and threw it down hard, it sparked.

"I hate that guy, first he tries to kill us and now he can just turn up and be a good guy, I'll bet he is the killer, why else would he have all this stuff, and the guns. Come on guys. Why is he here anyway, I doubt it's for a pleasure cruise, guys he's the killer." Jimmy told the others, they all had their radio mouthpieces covered and were standing together, they had taken James' advice and were standing in a circle, backs in, facing in all directions.

"They heard a lone gunshot ring out from a deck below, accompanied by a shriek of pain and the chatter of assault fire, the screaming stopped.

"I told you it was him!" Jimmy yelled. He dashed back into the bathroom and grabbed a gun, Cindy grabbed one as well, but the others didn't touch them. Jimmy dashed down the nearest flight of stairs, but when he reached the origin of the screams, he found James cradling the head of a teenage girl their age, she had a single gunshot wound in her chest, and from the look on James' unhelmeted face, he knew there was nothing he could do.

"Don't give up." Jimmy told her as she gasped for breath.

"Do something!" He screamed at James, who looked sadly at him.

"There's nothing I can do, she's lost too much blood."

"Stop the bleeding, I can fix that!" Jimmy yelled and James shot him a quick inquisitive look, sizing him up before grabbing his med kit and loading an injector gun, he pulled out a tube of something and covered the wound in it, they watched as the bleeding stopped. James plunged the needle into a vein on her arm and pulled the trigger on the injection gun, instant unconsciousness.

"Knockout drug, best damn anesthesia ever." James grunted, he pulled out some sharp tools, one a long sharp needle implement and the other what looked like curved scissors. He dropped the latter back into the case and pulled out a scapel.

"Ladies, I suggest you avert your eyes." He said, as he opened the wound a bit with the scapel and used the needle implement to pull out the bullet, he then pulled out what looked like a handheld scanner and pulled the trigger, sweeping it over the wound and causing it to seal up. He then gave her some painkillers by way of injection while Jimmy worked over some vials from the kit.

"What do you have, we've got to hurry!" James said urgently.

"This should cause temporary rapid red blood cell regeneration to replace her missing blood, but if it doesn't work…" Jimmy said, holding up the vial.

James didn't hesitate, he grabbed the vial, topped it and slotted it into his injection gun. "Life's about taking risks, if your not living on the edge you're taking up too much space." He muttered to herself.

"James this is her live you're toying with." Jimmy said.

"Do or die Jimmy, if I don't do, she'll die, way I see it, if it fails we're the same as if we didn't try." James said and plunged the needle into her other arm's vein, pulling the trigger. James and Jimmy picked her up and kifted her over to a passenger room, Cindy pushed open the unlocked door and they set her down on the bed.

"Looks like I was wrong." Jimmy said softly to the others as James ran out to get his backpack with more medical supplies.

"I don't know." Cindy said. "This bullet is made by Heckler and Koch…"

A/N: Cliffhanger BABY! And this one's a doozy, woo! Anyway, I particularly liked the ending to this chapter, haha, anyway! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4: Everyone's a Suspect

Hey everybody, sorry about how late this chapter was, we went on a "expedition" scuba diving, and ate dinner on St. George (That's an island off of Bermuda) I'm going to be trying to post another chapter tonight as well.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters; I also do not own any other copyrighted or trademarked material.

**Everyone's a Suspect**

"I don't know." Cindy said, "This bullet is made by Heckler and Koch."

Before Jimmy got a chance to examine the bullet, James ran back in.

"All right, here's the med stuff, I think she'll be fine for now, she's stable. I need two of you to watch over her." Libby raised her hand and Sheen, being Sheen did as well. "All right, that'll work, the rest of you, we need to split up, now we don't know who the killer is or what he or she looks like, but you can bet they'll be hiding, waiting for their chance to strike, so don't go out in the open, stick to the shadows."

"How do you know so much about this?" Jimmy asked suspiciously, thinking of the bullet Cindy was hiding clutched in her closed fist.

"I'm a special agent for a federal agency that I can't tell you anything about and, as far as you're concerned, doesn't exist."

"Special agent as in assassin." Jimmy said wearily, he too had been invited to be an agent, but unlike James, he had turned them down. Jimmy didn't want to be a killer.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Cindy asked.

"He is." Jimmy said ruefully. "James, you go ahead, we'll be along soon."

"All right, don't be idiots and take something to defend yourselves with." He said, walking out the door and disappearing into the dim interior of the wrecked cruise-ship.

Jimmy shut and locked the door before turning to Cindy. "Let me see that bullet." He said and Cindy handed it over without a word, he looked in the backpack and grabbed one of the spare ammo clips for James' MP5. He handed it to Cindy, who tossed it up and lashed out with her fist, breaking it clean in half and scattering bullets all over the floor.

Jimmy shot her an impressed look before retrieving a few of the rounds. He held them up next to the one that had hit the girl now lying on the bed. They matched perfectly.

"Well?" Libby asked expectantly.

"It's from his gun, he's the killer, or at least the one who shot her." Cindy said, gesturing to the girl on the bed.

"Hello." They all turned to the girl lying on the bed. She really was beautiful, with dirty blond hair and near-perfect features. She looked like a model.

"What's your name?" Libby asked softly.

"Sarah, what happened?" She answered.

"You were shot."

"I know, but after that? All I remember was this guy in some sort of ninja outfit stepping out of a corner. He had this gun…"

"What kind of gun?"

"A big one, like you see in spy movies, some kind of submachine gun, like from Mission Impossible Three, it was all black, and he said something about my being only the first. And…I felt a sharp, it felt like a searing…" Then her voice trailed off, her whole body was shaking.

"You don't have to talk about that, but what happened after, well he shot you?" Cindy asked curiously.

"Then this guy, some teenager, he had long hair, light brown, sort of wavy maybe, he was hot too. He was dressed kind of funny though, like some sort of commando, with a helmet too. Anyway, so he came running out of nowhere, and he had a gun too, the same kind, and he started firing. He hit the man, but it didn't stop him…."

"And the ninja disappeared."

"Yeah." Sara said weakly, before falling back down onto her bed.

"Just take it easy." Jimmy said, he was worried, if James wasn't the killer who was?

Sarah smiled up at him before closing her eyes.

"Well, that explains the bullet, they had the same gun." Jimmy said dejectedly to the others.

"What should we do?" Carl asked nervously.

"What he said we should do, Libby, you and Sheen stay here and help Sarah, Carl, you'll come with Cindy and I."

"But we don't know how to fight, or at least, I don't." Carl said weakly.

"All right Carl, you stay here with Libby and Sheen." Jimmy said. He picked up the backpack and started looking through it. Cindy rolled her eyes and grabbed it from him. She pulled out a handgun and tossed it to him.

"Beretta, nine millimeter, extra ammo." He caught the gun and the ammo clips. "It's loaded, already, automatic weapon, so just pull the trigger. The safety's already off." She told him. He put the spare ammo clips in his pocket and the gun in a shoulder holster on the combat uniform James had given him. He hated everything about the gun, hated everything it represented for him, death, killing, and pain.

Cindy pulled out a gun for herself and holstered it. She also grabbed a weighted combat knife and a scabbard, strapping the latter to her leg and slipping the knife into it. She tossed the backpack to Libby who dropped it. Sheen however, caught it and pulled out two guns and some ammo. Cindy slipped the backpack on her back and ran out of the room.

"How…do…you know, so much about guns?" Jimmy asked, finally catching up to her as they ran up a flight of stairs.

"It was part of a self-defense class after I got my ninth degree black belt." Cindy told him. She had retrieved their helmets and tossed him one. He put it on resentfully and heard her talking over the radio.

"This is much quieter, try not to make so much noise." She said. They both fell silent.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" Jimmy exclaimed.

"Think of what?"

"The lifeboats, we've got lifeboats!" He yelled into the radio mouthpiece. Cindy winced.

"Try not to scream into the radio." She said.

"Come on." He said, running down the hallway to the main staircase, a great winding marble thing that led up from three different parts of the ship to the royal promenade. (Which is like this street that's four floors high and has shops lining both sides, sometimes they have parades down it, oh yeah, and when deserted, the perfect place for an ambush) They hurried down the street that was the promenade, glancing nervously at the shops on both sides, Jimmy stopped for a second and gazed at a particular Jewelry store.

BANG! They saw the muzzle flash and heard the report as a high-powered weapon fired.

"Look out!" Jimmy dove to the side, tackling Cindy to the ground as the bullet smashed into the store behind them.

"What was that?" Cindy asked.

"Some sort of high-powered weapon, like an emplacement." Jimmy said, he had encountered several weapons of the kind while fighting a group of insurgents for BTSO a few years ago, before he had quit.

"I think it's a depleted uranium chaingun, the kind on Apache helicopters." He said, digging through his memory. Just then the store next to them exploded under a hail of fire.

"Yup, that's it." He said diving, into the store nearest them.

Cindy ran after him, and they crouched near the back, behind a shelf of what looked like diving equipment.

Jimmy fumbled in a pocket; pulling out one of the grenades James had given him. He pulled the pin and counted to three before hurling it into the health-food store across the street, next to the jewelry one.

"Why didn't you get him in the jewelry store?" Cindy asked.

"I'm not a killer."

"Yeah, me neither." Jimmy grabbed a heavy air tank from the shelf and crawled over to the side-wall, just as they heard a huge explosion that made the glass on all the stores on the promenade shatter. Jimmy grabbed the shelf to keep himself upright, one the shaking stopped, he felt the side wall, it was plaster. He then moved to the back one, plaster.

Pulling back the air tank, he smashed it into the back wall, punching a hole in it. Seeing what he was doing, Cindy grabbed another air tank and hurled it into the wall, smashing a gaping hole in it that went through to the lounge on the other side. Jimmy grinned at her and pullred out another grenade, he hurled it through shattered glass in the display window of the scuba shop and into the souvenir store on the other side of the killer's jewelry store.

When they got through the wall, Jimmy and Cindy immediately began stacking tables and chairs against the hole to stop the killer.

"Look Jimmy, I know there are lifeboats, but remember the explosion destroyed the dining area, well it probably destroyed the food storage areas too, so we should get as much food and drink as possible." She said.

Jimmy nodded, his face unreadable through the helmet's visor and began collecting all of the food, soda, even alcohol from the bar and putting it in his new hyper-sphere that was the size of a large marble and he wore on a chain around his neck.

"What's the alcohol for?" She asked.

"Cleaning and sanitizing wounds, take only the pure liquor, or strong liquor, shots, whiskey, that kind of thing, tequila." He said. "Pretty boy's med stuff won't last forever."

Once they had cleaned the place out, they ran out and to the elevators. But as the door slid open, they were bet by the sight of a dead man, he had a knife sticking out of his chest with a note on it. Cindy took of her helmet. She staggered a little before throwing up all over the floor, the man's eyes were blank and staring, his shirt was missing and his chest was covered with blood. He also had a bullet wound in his forehead and the note looked like it had been written in blood. Jimmy bent down and picked up the piece of paper, he felt like he was about to be sick and he knew that the sight would haunt him for the rest of his days. As he read and re-read the note, he swore to himself that whoever had done this was going to die.

"What does it say?" Cindy asked weakly. Her face was pale and she looked like she was about to be sick again.

"It basically says that we're all trapped here and…well, here." He said, handing her the note.

_You think you could escape me_

_Well it's time to think again_

_You're all stuck here anyway, trapped with your friends_

_You think you're guns can hurt me, well go ahead and try_

_It doesn't matter anyway, because soon it's time to die_

She re-read it before dropping it, a new fury burned in her eyes.

She turned from the elevator and dashed up the stairs, Jimmy hurrying after her.

"Jimmy." She said.

"Yes?"

"The lifeboats won't work."

"Yeah, probably not." He said. "Whoever this killer is, is obviously much smarter than leaving them intact."

They rounded a corner to see s figure dressed in all black waiting, with a knife balanced in one hand, holding a Smith and Wesson automatic handgun.

A/N: Yup, another cliffhanger, I hope the action in this chapter made up for how late it was, I also hope that the gruesome scene with the dead man didn't offend anyone…if it did, I apologize. REVIEW! Come on, you know you want to!


	5. Chapter 5: Absolute Chaos

Sorry about how late this chapter is! I think this one's really good!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters. I also do not own anything trademarked or copyrighted.

**Absolute Chaos**

"Hello Jimmy." The voice that issued from the person in front of them, the killer, whoever he or she was, was anything but human, it was distorted, warped and terrifying, yet all the same, Jimmy stretched to find some humanity in it, some sign.

"Forget it Jimmy." The masked figure said, holding up a slip box roughly the size of his ipod, a voice scrambler. The man pressed a button on it and spoke again, his voice was different this time.

"Tick tock Jimmy, time's almost up. First I'll go to work on the other passengers, and then time's up for you and your friends. How about I give you something to remember me by. A bullet perhaps." It was his own voice and then it was Cindy's voice, and then Carl's and then Libby's and finally, Sheen's voice said "a bullet perhaps" the killer paused and made as if to turn and run, but then stopped, he moved like chain-lightning, hurling the knife in his hand, in one fluid motion, he threw and then swept past them, slamming his fist into Jimmy's gut as he passed, he turned and fired, the gun made a sound like a muffled pair of hands clapping and Jimmy crumpled, the killer looked on for a second before, clenching his hand into a fist, disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Once the smoke cleared, Jimmy stood up, brushing himself off. Cindy had been expecting this and grinned. "You deserve an Oscar for that." She said, neither had forgotten the bullet-proof jackets James had given them.

"How exactly did he do that, with the smoke."

"I think it's some sort of condensed substance that when crushed forms a sort of airborne powder, mimicking the effects of smoke, the Ninja's had a similar technique, they were supposedly able to turn themselves invisible but really were just excellent at hiding, they wore fireproof clothing and his in fires, buried themselves under an inch of dirt, darted up trees, that sort of thing. It appears whomever this killer is using similar techniques." Jimmy was in full lecture swing and it took Cindy yanking the knife out of the wall and tossing it to him to stop him. Jimmy barely caught it, by the tip but didn't hesitate to slam it right back into the wall.

"Where it belongs." He explained. "Now come on, we've got to find the other passengers."

Cindy nodded and the two rushed off, they found what they were looking for on the highest deck, in a huge café, the Windjammer Café, the very one James had told them to meet him at, around two hundred people were gathered there, and in front, standing on the bar, and flanked by an unfamiliar teenage boy, James was addressing the lot of them.

"Your either with me or your against me, there's a killer on the loose, and he's drawn the line in the sand, and it was drawn with blood. So now you have a choice, you can come with me and fight, or you can stay here and die!" James' speech left the loudest silence Jimmy had ever heard, until a man who looked like he was in his mid-thirties spoke up.

"And why should we listen to you, kid?" He asked, the challenge hung on the air like a thick fog.

"Why?" James' voice was cold now, quiet and deadly, it was so threatening that the speaker took a step back, a look of nervousness on his hardy features. "I'll tell you why, because I am the only one here even remotely capable of taking on that killer, you know those spies, the assassins you see in movies, well I'm one of them, a real one."

"Prove it."

James nodded, only too happy to oblige, and, faster than any of them could comprehend, he had leapt over the bar, landed in a somersault and come up behind the man, a gun pressed to his neck, right under the jawbone, aimed upwards.

"Now, I could kill you, just by pulling this little trigger, in fact I could kill you two hundred other ways without touching this gun, now do you believe me?" He whispered into the man's ear. He nodded, more out of terror than a conscious decision.

"Thought you might."

By now, Jimmy had had enough, he ran forward, pushing people on either side out of the way until he reached James, who was just then relinquishing his hold on the petrified man.

"You can't do this!" He practically yelled.

"And who's going to stop me, this needs to be done, I'm trying to save them, the killer, whoever they are, destroyed the lifeboats, slashed the radios, yes all of them, oh and you don't get a signal out here."

"I'm going to stop you." Jimmy drew his own gun and aimed it straight at James' head.

James, completely unperturbed, jumped into a spinning kick that connected with Jimmy's jaw with the force of a battering ram, dropping him cold. "You'll live." He spat, looking down at Jimmy, who was groaning on the floor, an expression of pain on his once-innocent features, the same spark of innocence that had been marred by the experiences he had experienced and the things he had witnessed.

James hadn't counted on one thing, Cindy. Next thing he knew, her foot had smashed head on into his face, blood spurted everywhere and he crumpled, out cold. "You'll live." She said, without a trace of mercy.

Jimmy stood up weakly, and turned to the crowd assembled. "All right, now you see why we can't trust this idiot, I can save you, I know how to rig a radio system, we've seen the killer, he almost killed me, and we've seen someone he killed. I saved the life of another one of his would be victims and I can save your lives, we can help, you just have to trust me, now who's with me?" He said, his courage was rushing back and adrenaline was rushing through his veins now, he knew they couldn't trust James, and he had been right!

Around twenty-five people, most near the front and most around twenty-eight for some reason Jimmy couldn't fathom. They walked slowly over to him and stood behind him.

"We'll help you." The man was tall and looked strong, he was wearing a Princeton football jacket.

"Yeah, we're from Retroville, and this kid is a genius, he has a goddamn rocket ship, and it works." Another said.

Jimmy nodded and turned to the other people, most of whom weren't meeting his eyes.

Jimmy heard a sound behind him, it was James, who had recovered with the help of his mystery friend, he wiped the blood off of his face, a look of fury on it, there was no mercy in that face, contorted with rage. He had his assault rifle in his hands now and raised it in the air. "You think he can protect you, the killer is armed, so am I!" About fifty other people walked over to him, most men around the age of thirty five or forty, the other men and women were staring at a point by the corner, where a tall man wearing a naval captain's uniform.

"Look, I'm the captain here, now, unfortunately you are the only survivors, I've got around thirty crew members left, now. I see you lot are the only ones not trusting those kids, so you come with me." He said, his tone was one of a man used to assuming command, no questions asked. He was Norwegian as was apparent by his heavy accent.

"Fine old man." James yelled.

"Look kid…if you've got a problem with that it's your problem."

"I don't have a problem with that, I've got a problem with you."

"Look kid."

"STOP CALLING ME KID!" James screamed, he raised his gun and pulled the trigger the glass floor to ceiling windows behind the captain exploded outward with the force of the bullets. The captain had sensibly ducked, and straightened up, shards of broken glass sliding off his back, he dove forward, yanking James' weapon into the air and pinning him to the wall by his throat, but before he could utter a single word, the figure who had been standing in the corner and had helped James was behind him.

"Freeze." The person said, they tossed back their hood revealing a sheet of stunning blond hair.

"Whoa." Jimmy said, he hadn't expected a girl.

"Let go of him or I'm putting a nine millimeter bullet through your brainstem." The captain put his captive down, slowly.

"All right, I…" But just then the wall exploded.

"DUCK!" Jimmy screamed, just in time, for just then the opposite wall was turned into so much scrap metal by a hail of bullets. Jimmy, lying flat on the floor signaled to Cindy. Catching his meaning, she threw him something.

Jimmy looked into her eyes and she nodded, confidence surging, he leapt forward and somersaulted to the side, crouching up against a wall, he pulled up the grenade and ripped the pin out with his teeth, hurling it around the corner, he brought up the pistol clenched in his other fist and, holding it around the wall, pulled the trigger as fast as he possibly could, emptying it and throwing that around as hard as he could after the bullets, the gunfire stopped.

When the smoke from the grenade's explosion cleared, Jimmy cautiously slipped over to the source of the gunfire, it was an automated machine gun attached to a timer, or it was, having been reduced to a pile of scrap metal along with the scorched surrounding walls.

"We're going." James said, turning and walking away, his followers right behind him.

Jimmy turned around. "Did anyone get injured?" HE asked, everyone shook their heads, mostly to scared to do anything else, but the people who had volunteered to help him stood up.

"Sir?" Jimmy asked tentatively, addressing the captain.

"Yeah, what?"

"Did you check all radios, what's our status with other supplies?"

"Naught kid, the main food supplies are gone, that was one helluva explosion earlier, that whole half of the ship, gone, we're stuck fast on this seamount though." The man said.

"Damn, what about lifeboats?"

"The bottoms are gone, we'll have to build something." Jimmy said.

"Look kid, they say you're a genius." Jimmy nodded, activating his jet shoes and lifting into the air.

"Yes." He said, lowering back down again.

"Well, the crew, what's left will take care of this killer, you organize building a new craft." The captain said, Jimmy nodded, although he knew it wouldn't be that simple, the killer certainly knew what he was doing…but he needed to get back to Libby, Carl and Sheen.

"All right! Listen up, you will listen to this kid here, he will organize building a new escape craft, anyone who has a problem with that will be left behind. Understand?" The captain said, addressing the group as a large. "We left with a thousand passengers, there are definitely more survivors, find them!" He said again, to his crew this time. "And find this killer, stay in groups, get weapons! Godspeed men!" He roared and his men nodded, dashing off, he turned to Jimmy and nodded. "I trust you." He told him before following his crew.

"Okay, we will do this, I need you to get all power tools or other tools, radios that aren't trashed, cell phones, as well as any hard steels that could be used to build boats or other crafts, stay together, in medium sized groups, also gather any food or water, keep weapons, knives, don't wander off alone, be very careful, when you have done that, gather at the bridge, that's the control center, near the top." Jimmy said, the others nodded.

"We'll keep them safe." The Retroville resident in the varsity jacket who had spoken earlier said and Jimmy nodded.

"Cindy, come on, we've got to get back to Cindy, Carl and Sheen."

"Jimmy."

"Yes?"

"I just want you to know that whatever happens, I love you."

"Me too, and I will protect you, no matter what."

"I'll protect you too Neutron, I am the martial arts expert after all, and a better shot." She said, they both laughed, whatever happened, they had each other.

A/N: So sorry it took so long, my satellite internet card stopped working on the cruise, I'm back on land though, so I'll update faster and faster, I fixed the card, well I didn't personally but I got it fixed which is why I'm updating right now! Sorry again! Hope you liked it! Review! Please! Oh and this summer I'm mostly going to be writing comedies, nothing to action-y, well maybe something, besides what I've already got going of course.


	6. Chapter 6: Missing in Action

Sorry this took so long!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters. I also do not own any other copyrighted or trademarked material!

**Missing in Action!**

Jimmy and Cindy ran down the hallway spanning the length of the ship, or what was left of it at any rate.

"Damn it." Cindy panted.

"Yeah." Jimmy agreed, not wasting breath on full sentences. Carl, Libby, Sheen, and that other girl, Sarah, could already be dead.

Jimmy and Cindy rounded another corner and almost fell down a flight of stairs, at the foot of this staircase though, was the door to the room where they had left Carl, Libby and Sheen.

Cindy held up a hand, she took a step back and leapt forward, breaking down the door and landing in a somersault.

Jimmy was impressed. "Whoa! Are you guys okay?" He asked Carl, Libby and Sheen, gathered around Sarah's bed.

"Yeah." Libby said, she sounded odd though, her voice was quavering.

"Did James come in here?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, he took his guns, all we've got is our handguns, two clips of spare ammo between us, a silencer and whatever you've got.

"A commando knife, a smoke grenade, some rope, a cable and a handgun with about four shots left, Cindy said, she aimed it outside and pulled the trigger, they heard a dull thud instead of a sharp crack. "Scratch that, a handgun that jams." She said.

James strolled back in as she finished speaking.

"Hey." He said casually.

"What?" Jimmy asked bluntly.

"Oh nothing, just thought I'd drop by." He said casually, he turned and exited, leaving them to stew.

"What was that all about?" Cindy asked.

"I know." Jimmy said, he pulled the commando knife out of it's scabbard and swung the door shut, motioning to the others to get down, he made sure they were behind the bed, with Sarah with them before putting his plan into action. He picked a coil of rope from the floor and tied it around part of a large dresser, he secured the other end to the wire and kicked the dresser over, he pushed it a little to make it taut, hanging just over the doorway, he then positioned himself up against the wall.

Cindy threw him the smoke grenade, he used a shard of glass that had been stuck in his shoe to secure the grenade to the dresser by way of the pin loop.

"What are we waiting for?" Sheen hissed. Jimmy shook his head and went over to the window, he looked around for something heavy and found it in the form of a desk chair.

Ten seconds later there was an almighty crash as the chair went through the window.

"Did you have to make it that loud?" Cindy whispered angrily. Jimmy shrugged apologetically.

"Go!" He hissed. Cindy nodded and unhooked one end of a steel cable, she hooked this end to the bed and tested it, the other end was attached to her belt. Taking Carl's handgun from him, she took the silencer Libby offered her and started to rappel down the slick side of the cruise ship.

Finding a window one floor down and one window over, she aimed the gun and pulled the trigger. The muzzle flashed with a muffled spat and the window shattered almost noiselessly, damn good luck. She thought wryly.

Climbing into the room, she hooked the other end of the cable to a desk that was nailed to the floor. She stuck her head out of the window and whistled.

Everyone except for Sheen and Jimmy were out the window to safety when it happened. Jimmy had resumed his place by the dresser and, just as he had expected, the door creaked open, James hadn't fooled him, Jimmy still thought he was the killer and as the familiar black-clad figure crept in, he cut the rope, the dresser crashed down on the figure and the smoke grenade went off, Jimmy stabbed down through the wood of the dresser before sprinting to the window and climbing down the rope, he made it just after Sheen and stayed by the window.

Jimmy was looking up when the killer came to the window above, Jimmy grinned savagely. "Perfect." He said, pulling with all his might on the cable, Cindy joined him and he heard the bed on the other end of the cable fly forward and smash the killer in the back, he crumpled out of sight and Jimmy turned to the others.

"All right." He started, cutting the cable with his commando knife. "Steer clear of James, I think he's the killer, I think that's why he came, to scout us out…" Jimmy started, but stopped short, Sarah had disappeared…

A/N: I apologize for the short chapter, but that cliffhanger was too good to pass up! The next chapter should be up tomorrow! Review!


	7. Chapter 7: Hide and Seek

Here's to a very late chapter seven. Now, the reason for the delayed update was that I was in the Poconos until around Monday night without my computer! I know, torture isn't it! Although this chapter is gonna be good.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters. I also do not own any other trademarked or copyrighted material.

**Hide and Seek**

Jimmy stood, agape for a few seconds before reacting.

"DAMN IT!" He screamed, punching the wall, unfortunately, behind the wall was steel, something cracked, it wasn't the steel.

"AH!" Jimmy screamed again, he held up a bruised hand, a ring he had been wearing had shattered cutting his middle finger a little. Jimmy pressed down on the cut, stopping the bleeding.

"How did he do that?" Cindy asked the room at large, shocked.

"Here's how." Libby said, pulling a knife out of the wall, impaled on it was a piece of paper.

Written in black, the ink still wet, the note conveyed a chilling message.

**You think you can beat me, think again. You tried to kill me, I took my revenge, next time it's one of you! Oh and did you ever think that large groups are perfect targets for hidden things that explode? Yes I know Jimmy!  
**

**You like hide and seek?**

Instead of a signature there was the knife hole from the throwing dagger Libby had pried out of the wall.

Jimmy took it from her and wrapped it in part of the room's bedsheets, slipping the weapon in his inside pocket.

Elsewhere: The killer smiled as he watched them…it appeared he had given Jimmy more credit than he was worth. The person thought, shutting off the screen and activating another one, a blinking dot appeared on the ship's blueprints. _Oh so simple._ The person thought as he turned to a figure bound and gagged to a chair, the figure shook and issued a muffled scream.

"Move! Windjammer! Hurry!" Jimmy practically yelled, the others, bewildered hesitated before charging after him.

They ran up stairwells, not caring how many traps they were setting off. When they reached the door for the deck with the café, Jimmy swore, the door was closed off by rubble and completely inaccessible. He pulled himself up through a hole in the stairway above and helped the others up. They burst through a door to find themselves on an observation deck over the Windjammer. Not pausing to think, Jimmy vaulted the railing landing remarkably unharmed on the glass ceiling below, Cindy dropped, catlike beside him and Libby after her, Sheen and Carl were last.

Jimmy examined the glass panels. "Reinforced." He muttered.

"IT'S A TRAP!" He yelled, grabbing the others and pulling them down flat on the ceiling of the café.

Sure enough, the wall behind them exploded, in a hail of bullets, showering them in plaster, chipped paint and bits of steel that fell like shrapnel.

"Almost as soon as it began, the shooting stopped."

"He gave up." Carl cried ecstatically.

_Too easy…wait a minute, it was too easy!_ Jimmy thought, his pulse pounding in his ears.

"MOVE!" Libby shouted, she was thinking the same thing as Jimmy.

Jimmy and Cindy scrambled to their feet, just as the pane of glass below imploded, sending Carl and Sheen plummeting to the café floor. Just then, they heard the distinctive chatter of a machine gun and bullets whizzed by all around them, Jimmy turned to five for cover, saw the hole a fraction of a second too late and tripped, a bullet screamed by his temple, and darkness was immediate.

Cindy saw him fall and dove for him, she caught his ankle before he went too far but was pulled down, she gritted her teeth and tried with all her might to stop herself but she was sliding forward on the glass, her stomach flat as she struggled to support his limp dangling form, Libby grabbed Cindy's ankle too, but then the machine gun switched targets and the glass around them imploded in a rain of deadly bullets. Libby swore as they fall.

"Shit." She said quietly, but calmly as they fell.

"Are you all right?" The voice was coming from somewhere far away, as if he was underwater, or was he dead, that must be it.

"Wake up!" The voice said more urgently and he felt a sharp pain in his skull, focused around his temple, his head was throbbing as if he had been hit over the head with a sledgehammer. So much for the dead theory then.

The blur around him slowly came into focus as he came around.

"What happened?"

"A bullet knocked you out, almost killed you, one more centimeter and it would've hit. Turns out it just whizzed by." Libby was saying, he felt his temple and fingered a thin scar, as straight as though it had been cut with a ruler and a razor.

"I fell didn't I? So why aren't I dead?"

"You fell on a heap of blankets the others have been gathering." Turns out there was no explosion after all, Carl and Sheen normal, besides what was wrong with them before." She said good humoredly, chuckling slightly before continuing. "Anyway, your supporters filled us in on what happened while you and Cindy were up here…they've got food, drink and some electronic parts.

Jimmy straightened up from the pile of what resembled a giant clean laundry tower and headed over to inspect the electronics.

It took him half an hour to build a few things. "Okay." He said, limping slightly from the explosion. "I've got a long distance radio built but we still need some crucial components to get it working. I also have these primitive lasers. They don't have much range, so keep them in contact with whatever you're cutting for best effect. I need you to get all the best looking sheet metal that isn't interior crude metal, but plating. Also, find any motor parts and get all the parts and remains of the lifeboats. I need a team to get gasoline from what remains of the gas tank as well, it'll be in the lower levels, there's a map in the Windjammer, Mark here lifted it from a crewmember." Jimmy said when they were all assembled, he indicated a college student in a hooded sweatshirt.

Jimmy began passing out lasers to some of the assembled. The rest he instructed to get gas and other supplies and assemble them there.

They had departed when a scream turned Jimmy's attention from his radio. "HELP!" It sounded like James and Cindy shot him a confused look which he returned.

"Well come on!" Jimmy said. "Cindy, you stay here with them, I need someone to help them! Libby, come on."

Jimmy and Libby were running down a balcony after the origination of the distress cry when Libby spoke.

"You know, we never really took the time to get to know each other back home. I think that that was probably really dumb. You're a great guy and I don't even know what kind of band you like. I think that when we get back to the construction site, the Windjammer, we should talk, you know, while we're working." She said.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't even know your favorite color, your favorite band, anything really, I mean, we should really be better friends." Jimmy added.

"When we get back to the café." Libby promised.

"If we get back."

"We will get back!" Libby said firmly and Jimmy nodded, his hopes a little higher.

Back at the Windjammer, Cindy, Carl and Sheen were standing, Carl and Sheen standing watch and Cindy inspecting the radio, she set it down and turned when she heard footsteps.

"Surprised? You really shouldn't be, it's the oldest trick in the book, and you fell for it hook, line and sinker." The killer's scrambled voice said as he blocked the doorway, holding what looked to be a mace and chain.

"Oh shit." Sheen said. The curse unusual from him, but definitely appropriate.

"Oh shit is right." Cindy said, taking up a martial arts stand while her left hand reached for the pistol in her pocket…

"Please. How pathetic, now you're going to go for the hidden gun a suppose, why don't you idiots ever learn?" The killer said, enraged, Cindy charged, expecting the killer to raise the medieval weapon, also expecting to be able to dodge. Instead the killer sighed melodramatically and raise a weapon, it was a slightly elongated pistol with a blunted end, the killer pulled the trigger and Cindy collapsed, an excrutiating screeching sound echoing in her ears. Behind her, Carl and Sheen collapsed as well, writhing in agony, Cindy saw the killer raise a foot, saw it come down, and then saw nothing else. Behind her limp form, Carl and Sheen similarly passed out.

A/N: Cliffie, another one! Sorry guys! Had to! Please review! I can't convey how happy your reviews make me!


	8. Chapter 8: Running Scared

I could blather on like I usually do before a chapter, but I think I'm at a loss for things to blather about.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

**Running Scared**

Sheen regained consciousness in an unidentifiable, bland room. "What happened?" He asked thin air. "And why am I tied up?" With a painful rush of remembrance he suddenly recalled how they had been tricked and the killer had fired some sort of weapon. _Think! Think! What would Ultralord do?_ Sheen asked himself, scanning the room, the whitewashed walls offered no ideas so he examined the chair he was sitting on. _Bingo!_ He thought wildly.

"Damn it, I was so sure that would work!" Sheen said, he was now almost completely upside down, still tied to the chair, against the wall, where he had tried to bust through the steel. He tried shifting to reduce the pain in his lower back and gazed intently at his lopsided reflection in a mirror two feet above.

Cindy was bound to a similar chair in an identical room. Hopping the chair over to the wall she pressed her ear to it to try to hear anyone on the other side, silence was all that met her ear's however and when she shouted for help, none came.

Examining her surroundings, Cindy searched for a means of escape. _What would Jimmy?_ Spotting the mirror on the wall, she hopped over to it and began slamming into the wall beneath it, trying to knock it off its peg in the wall.

Finally, the mirror was shaken loose and smashed on the floor Cindy braced herself and pushed herself and the chair over backwards, the impact shook her body and she felt a brutal pain in her spine. _That's gonna hurt in the morning. In fact, that's gonna hurt now!_ She thought grimly. Cindy inched sideways until she felt her hand connect with a rather large piece of broken glass from the mirror, twisting her wrist around, she began to try to saw through the ropes that bound her to the chair.

The killer leaned back in its chair, watching the blinking red dot that was Jimmy stop in its tracks, really, a locater device in the knife the killer had left for them, it was all painfully obvious. (I call the killer an it because I am not yet prepared to reveal its gender)

"Ah Jimmy, I expected better from you, pathetic really. You fell for the oldest trick in the book." The killer mused, rising from its chair, the killer turned to several doors behind him and strode quickly towards one. _Off to check on the prisoners._

In his room, Sheen was still crumpled, upside down on the floor when the door swung open. He struggled to lift his gaze to the doorway, where he was surprised to see Cindy.

"Shhh!" She whispered urgently, bending down with what looked like a broken piece of mirror, in a few seconds, he too was free and straightened up.

"How did you?'

"No time!" She cut him off. "I stole the sonic weapon he used to knock us out and this from the next room, he's in Carl's room now, no time to rescue him, we've got to find Jimmy!" She said quietly.

"Just then, the door flew inwards with an almighty crash, the ninja-like figure of the killer framing the doorway.

"Oh crap." Sheen said.

"Damn straight."

The killer just looked at them completely silent, then he marched forward and hit Sheen around the side of the head with a vicious roundhouse. The teenager crumpled like a sack of bricks and the killer drew a gun from inside his outfit, paying no heed to Cindy behind him.

Sheen desperately searched the killer's eyes for a hint of mercy, but could find only anger, boundless rage tempered by intellect.

Cindy raised the sonic weapon and pulled the trigger, when nothing happened she pulled it again and held it pressed down for a few seconds.

She flipped it around in he hands and when she couldn't find any other controls shrugged. "Guess manual works just as well." She said nonchalantly, as if she was settling for a subpar meal in some restaurant. Raising the weapon above her head, she took aim and brought it crashing down in the middle of the base of her enemy's skull, unconsciousness was immediate, and the figure crumpled. She bent down and grabbed the gun from his hands, a Walther close range model, light and small, easy to carry. She judged, pocketing it and helping Sheen up.

"Come on!" She pressed him, running through the white door and into the room filled with computers and other gear, the chair where another captive had been tied was empty, it's former occupant moved.

They burst into Carl's room and Cindy used the gun to blast his bonds off, having lost the piece of mirror.

Carl started to thanks them, but Cindy waved at him for silence and led the other two through the other room and into a hallway.

"We've got to save Jimmy and Libby!" Cindy told them as they ran, tearing up the distance between them and where Cindy had seen Jimmy's dot on the GPS locator screen.

Jimmy and Libby were standing as still as they could possibly be, Jimmy had figured out that they had been tricked but they were hiding in the shadows along the side of a corridor.

"We can't go anywhere, the killer's here somewhere, or there's some bomb or something." Just as he spoke, they heard booted footsteps from up the hallway. Jimmy nodded to Libby and they began to run as quietly as the could in the other direction, slipping and sliding down the over-polished corridor floor.

Cindy, Carl and Sheen also heard the footsteps, from where they were heading, they were to heavy to be Jimmy or Libby and the killer was knocked out, so they were a trick to get their two friends to run this way, into a trap!

"STOP!" Cindy yelled as they rounded a corner and saw Jimmy and Cindy running towards them on the other end of the long hallway.

"Come on!" Cindy cried, gesturing frantically to Carl and Sheen who followed her down the hallway, cautiously avoiding the walls and doors.

Libby spotted their friends first and threw out her arm to stop Jimmy, down the hall, Cindy, Carl and Sheen similarly halted, unwilling to risk the journey down the hallway, Jimmy turned around to see if they could go that way, but at the very end, he saw rubble blocking the hall, and heard footsteps that were growing louder. Searching the walls, Cindy ripped a lamp from its place in the wall next to the door to room 712. She rolled it down the hall, testing for explosives, when nothing happened, the three slowly proceeded down to Jimmy and Libby.

"What happened?" Jimmy started to ask, but never got a chance to finish, for right behind Cindy, Carl and Sheen stood the familiar black-clad killer, and just then, explosions trapped them as portions of the roof fell down on either end of the hallway, blocking any escape.

"Hello again. And goodbye." The killer said, raising a flamethrower, his eyes glowing with fury.

A/N: Please review! Please!


	9. Chapter 9: Her Knight in Shining Armor

Hey, some people were asking why Cindy didn't just finish off the killer when she had the chance in the previous chapter, she didn't because, one she isn't that kind of cold-blooded-murderer also she assumed the killer wouldn't come around for quite some time so she could try to warn Jimmy as well as finish the killer. And it would be far too anti-climactic. Oh, and so I don't get insanely confused, I'm gonna refer to the killer as a he, but is still could be a she…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters or trademarks.

**Her Knight in Shining Armor**

As the killer tensed his finger on the trigger of the flamethrower, he paused. By killing them, he would be helping himself, finding peace, vengeance. But if he did kill them, and if he was fulfilled, then he would have killed people who didn't know what they had done and he wouldn't be at all at peace with himself. Sure killing people he didn't know was easy enough, but people he did know. He knew he would have to kill them to find peace, but then, he would never find peace if he had killed them. It was a catch-22, a no-win situation…

Jimmy saw the flicker of hesitation in the killer's eyes and lunged forward in a blind attempt, he punched wildly and was amazed to see the killer's weapon go flying into the wall.

Seeing this, Cindy jumped forward and launched herself into a flying tackle, slamming the killer into the wreckage behind them with a sickening thud.

The killer felt his problem slipping away as rage overtook him, slinging the girl off him; he pulled out a knife and hurled it. The weapon flew true and slammed into Carl's arm.

Carl's piercing scream filled the air as he pulled the weapon out and fell to the floor, clutching his bleeding arm and sobbing in pain.

Jimmy snarled like a maniac and snatched the flamethrower off the ground, at the sight of his friend's pain, all trace of mercy, of the innocent little boy he had once been died right there and then, and he raised the flamethrower and pulled back on the trigger.

Flame erupted from the nozzle of the weapon, the fire engulfed the killer and he ran forward, slapping at his burning clothing.

"DIE!" The killer screamed, his voice scrambler making him sound like an inhuman monster as he charged, weapons forgotten, his head smashed into Jimmy's chest, bowling him over as the man charged, he ran forward, smashing the flamethrower underfoot. He circled, snarling and lashed out with his foot, catching Sheen around the side of his head with a vicious roundhouse kick.

Libby stepped forward and the killer turned to her, he drew back and threw a vicious right hook that caught her on the side of the head like a sledgehammer. Bending down, he snatched the fallen knife from the ground, ready to finish them off.

BANG! A shot rang out; Cindy was propped up against the wall, gun in hand. She pulled the trigger again and again, cracks of gunfire ripping through the air. She was aiming at his head now, firing, when he didn't fall, she hesitated and that half-second was all he needed.

He lunged forward, knife outstretched but she ducked raising the gun, she pumped the trigger like mad but was met only by the clicking sound of the hammer against an empty bullet chamber.

"Damn it!" She yelled, and charged, the killer threw the knife and amazingly she caught it, diving forward and ramming the weapon into the person's thigh. He let loose a scream of agony, stumbling backwards as he fumbled for something on his belt.

He found it and crushed it in his hand, enveloping the hallway with thick, blinding smoke. When it cleared, he was gone.

Cindy staggered to the side and fell against the wall, sliding to the floor. Jimmy was regaining consciousness on the floor, covered with bruises.

He sat up and looked around, Carl was huddling against the wall, sobbing with agony. Libby was crumpled on the floor, her eyes half open, nose bleeding freely from impact, it was amazing it wasn't broken, her head had taken the worst of the damage but she would probably have a concussion. Jimmy surmised, Sheen was undoubtedly worse than Libby, barely conscious, eyes dulled over, bleeding in three places on his face, which was black and blue. Cindy two was cut and bruised, but she was probably the best off.

Jimmy crawled over to Sheen, ripping part of his friend's shirt off and holding it to his cuts, Sheen raised his hand and took the makeshift bandage, groaning.

Libby was already applying pressure and a piece of clothing to her nose and she spoke, voice slurred. "'E god away didn't he?" She asked, her voice sounding stuffy with her nose covered.

Jimmy nodded and moved on to Carl.

"You okay?" Jimmy asked, ripping of part of his own shirt and holding it to Carl's cut. He ripped out his shoelace and tied the bandage in place. Cindy had picked up a stick of plastic explosive she had stolen from the killer's base and was securing it to the wall. A deafening blast shook the floor and the dust cleared to reveal a gaping hole that led down into a hallway.

Jimmy picked up Carl, holding him in a fireman's carry.

"He's heavy, help Sheen, Libby, meet, Windjammer." Jimmy said, grunting with exertion as he staggered off down the hallway.

Eventually, everyone from the parties that had gone off looking for materials returned to the Windjammer, Jimmy had bandaged most of Carl, Sheen and Libby's wounds with supplies from a medical kit someone had found and they were already at work. Jimmy had used some parts to construct lasers and, under his direction, some people were at work cutting down metal, heavy plastic and other materials to designated shapes. Jimmy had designed a special lifeboat to build himself.

The lifeboat consisted of two oval like, cylindrical hulls on metal beams that stabilized the craft, one on either side, in the middle, raised off from the ocean, was the main hull. In his design, chairs from the ship were bolted to either side. People were to take turns sitting or sleeping in the center aisle. Jimmy was designing two motors to be made and put in the two support hulls. All supplies would be in the support hulls and used to balance the craft. Since they had limited gasoline, he was also designing a sail for use in windy conditions. It would work, if they could build it while staying alive. When the propellers spun, they would turn the shaft of an electrical generator in theory this would get them to safety. The only problem was food and water. But they would have to make do and ration themselves. Jimmy decided as he threw down his pencil.

"We need those engine parts!" Jimmy complained.

"I know, but we couldn't find them, maybe James has them." Cindy suggested, expecting an explosion, but instead, Jimmy just sank lower in his seat.

"Yeah, where do you think he went?"

"Probably the other pool on Deck 7, that's the other best place, we've got a pool up on this deck too. Y'know, for water testing with the boats." Cindy said.

"Yeah, we should go try to find him, but then that bastard'll find us."

"Which bastard?"

Jimmy gestured to the bruises on his face.

"Oh, that bastard." Cindy said, like Jimmy, she was utterly exhausted and her body craved sleep.

"You look beat." Jimmy told her.

"So do you."

"I can't sleep." Cindy told him, a little nervous.

Jimmy slid over next to her and put his arm around her.

"Why not?"

"I…I have nightmares…" She confessed.

"About what?" Jimmy asked, normally he would've gotten pencil and paper and mathematically proved that nightmares were a series of undetermined semi-conscious thoughts determined by pre-sleep thoughts and the anxiety level of the person, but this time he knew that he shouldn't.

"I don't know…different things, but I get scared." Cindy said, her voice sounded like it was pleading.

Jimmy nodded with understanding, he knew that this whole ordeal was tough.

"You try to sleep, I'll be right here, nobody is going to hurt you. I'm always here for you, and you may be a better fighter than me, but even the bravest people on earth need someone to help them." Jimmy said consolingly. _I know, because I'm one of those people who need it._ He thought, but pushed the notion away.

Cindy nodded and curled up, her head resting on his chest. Jimmy wrapped his arms around her and in seconds her eyes were tight shut.

Jimmy looked down on her, the love of his life and smiled.

Cindy felt the safest she had ever felt in her life and imagined that they were on a blanket in a grassy field back in Retroville, watching the stars, together. He was her protector, and she knew that when she was in his arms, nothing could happen to her. As she drifted into sleep, she felt his warm body against hers, and for the first time in her life, her life as the girl who had to be the best, who couldn't love the boy who was the only one who had ever been better, she relaxed, let down her guard. The fact that she wasn't supposed to love him made her love him even more. His deep caring blue eyes, his charming smile, his warm lips and everything else about him that she was supposed to hate, she loved. And with that thought, she fell asleep, asleep in the arms of her defender, her perfect knight in shining armor…

A/N: No cliffhanger! Instead I stuck you with an extremely mushy love scene. I'm a sucker for fluff…please review!


	10. Chapter 10: A Fall From Grace?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

**A Fall From Grace?**

"Wow, not a single attack today." Jimmy said, slightly glad and slightly suspicious of the lack of danger.

"Yeah, but Libby doesn't look so good." Cindy said from the other side of the engine they were working on.

"Yeah I know." Jimmy shot back out of the corner of his mouth, glancing over at Sheen.

Libby was lying on the booth over in the corner, she was pale and clammy and cold sweat was dripping down her face, all in all, she looked pretty bad.

Sheen was bending over her, whispering something, she laughed through chattering teeth and Sheen smiled.

"What's wrong with her?" Carl asked in concern, he was sorting all of the food people were bringing back, although he wasn't eating it, he knew how important this was.

"I don't know, pass me that pile of stuff." Jimmy said from around a screwdriver clenched in his teeth. Carl picked up the box in question and laid it down next to Jimmy.

"Thanks." Jimmy said, spitting out the screwdriver and bending over the supplies, it was everything they had found in what was left of the sick bay.

"Let's see." He said, scanning through a book of illnesses.

"I think…I think she has blood poisoning." Jimmy said, ripping out the page.

"See look, a cold sweat, clammy skin, running a fever, pale complexion, pained movements, nausea, yeah, it's blood poisoning, she must have some bad cut that got infected." He and Cindy exchanged a look and walked over to Libby.

"Libby, do you have any bad cuts that have been hurting particularly?" Jimmy asked.

Libby nodded and pointed towards her arm. Cindy bent down and pulled up the sleeve. Jimmy winced at the purplish, crusted cut.

"Yep, blood poisoning." He said.

"Well, what do we need to treat it?" Sheen asked urgently.

"Either a broad range, specialized antibiotic or a massive dose of penicillin." Jimmy said.

Cindy rushed over to the box of med supplies and began pulling things out.

"Damn! No penicillin, what was the name of that antibiotic?"

"Azithromircin (That is a real antibiotic, although not one for blood poisoning)." Jimmy said, reading the name from his ripped piece of paper.

"None of that either." Cindy said frantically.

"Damn!" Jimmy swore. He straightened up and ran a hand through his hair frustratedly.

"We're going to have to find some, Cindy, Sheen, come on." Jimmy said, standing up and picking up a black, military issue semi-automatic shotgun.

Sheen and Cindy got up and followed him, snatching up weapons too.

"Where are we going?" Sheen asked.

"James, he'll probably have the rest of the med supplies and some Penicillin in his supplies."

"But where is he?" Cindy asked.

"He'll be in the bridge, there's an elevator that goes to the sixth level there, and he's a bit egotistical, he'll want to be in the highest, most important part of the ship."

Cindy smiled and muttered to Sheen. "Remind you of anyone?"

"I HEARD THAT!" Jimmy shouted.

"I know." Cindy said simply.

Jimmy chased her all the way to the bridge.

"All right, the bridge is right around this corner, there's a steel door on the left and a normal one on the right, knock on the normal door." Jimmy said, panting.

Cindy strode up and knocked hard on the wooden door. It swung open; a broad man in his thirties with a moustache, a short beard and salt and pepper sideburns was standing inside the small, empty chamber inside.

"We're here to see James." Jimmy told the man.

He appraised them, looking Jimmy up and down. "Why should I let you in?"

Jimmy sighed, the idiot was going to play bouncer with them, then fine.

Jimmy, strode forward and held out an arm, restraining Cindy.

"We want to see him." Jimmy repeated.

The man grunted but didn't move.

Cindy slipped away from Jimmy and pulled a gun from her jacket pocket.

She aimed the weapon right between the man's eyes and cocked it.

"Back off." He said. The man, displaying surprising agility, shot to the side and whipped out a Browning High Power handgun.

Sheen held up a crowbar and Jimmy leveled his shotgun, switching it off automatic and pulling back the slide.

The man lowered his gun and gestured them through, another thick, steel hatch waited and the man swiped a key hard in the slot, he turned the hatch and swung the door open.

Jimmy led the way inside. They had gutted the place of all electronics except one large, computer console that looked like it was ready for instant removal, the screen was on and a complex craft diagram was revolving on the screen. Multiple parts lined the walls and two engines, multiple computer banks and steering devices were in various stages of construction in the floor, the elevator in the corner was apparently working and people were going back and forth. James was sitting in the Captain's chair, reading some list on a notebook.

"Ah, Jimmy, I thought we would be seeing you, how's it going?' James asked kindly, rising from his chair.

"Not bad, you had any attacks yet? I mean, from the killer?" Jimmy asked.

"Hah! The killer, attack here! That's rich! Whoever they are, they're afraid to attack me." James said, breaking out into raucous peals of laughter.

"Why would the killer be afraid of you?" Jimmy challenged.

James straightened up and clapped his hands twice, everyone there pulled out some sort of gun. Now that James was standing up, Jimmy saw two shoulder holsters, a bandolier of grenades, extra clips of ammo and an assault rifle crossed with a long staff on his back.

"Oh." Jimmy said quietly.

"What's with the staff?" Cindy asked.

"This, oh." James said, pulling it over his shoulder, he twirled it experimentally. He started spinning it faster and faster until it was a black blur in his hands, than he darted forward and stopped with the staff tip next to Cindy's head. He pressed a button in the staff's center and a glowing laser blade erupted from the tip.

"It also works as a high-powered taser." He said, lowering the staff and shutting off the blade. "My own invention."

Sheen scowled and coughed significantly.

"Oh, yes, we need penicillin, a lot of it." Jimmy said.

"All right." He said, he walked over to a closet and pulled open the door.

"Sorry man, no penicillin, I've got this though, who got hurt that you need penicillin?" He said, holding up a small bottle.

"Someone, got blood poisoning." Jimmy said, wondering how much he should reveal.

"Than this might help, but it also might cause…a rare, but serious side effects." James said, tossing the bottle at him. Jimmy looked down at the unfamiliar brand name.

"What is this?" He asked.

"Oh, an antibiotic, it's not designed to treat blood poisoning but it has the same components as Azithromircin and would cure blood poisoning as a side effect, but as I said, it is the cause of, as the commercials say, a rare but serious side effect that is actually not that rare." James said, rummaging around in another closet.

"All right." Jimmy said.

Sheen and Cindy nodded and they turned to leave.

"Oh and Jimmy, take this, you'll probably need it." James said, throwing him a box, it was a long, dark, polished mahogany box with a gold latch on it and Jimmy nodded in thanks before they all left.

"That bastard." Jimmy swore as they reached the glass bridge that linked the Windjammer and the pool deck, it was suspended over the ocean and provided a terrifying view of the rocks and waves just below, with the knowledge that the only thing that was saving you from almost certain death on those rocks, or in the water, was a strip of steel and hard plastic mimicking glass walls.

"Hey, what's that, over there?" Cindy asked, pointing down at some shapes below.

Sheen pressed his eyes up against the glass, it looks like the killer, and he's got someone, and it looks like…Carl…" Sheen finished.

"Shit!" Jimmy screamed.

"None of out weapons can reach him! Check that box!" Cindy said urgently.

Jimmy nodded and fumbled for the latch. Flipping it open, he raised the lid, inside, on a bed of velvet, was a top-line sniper rifle with a starlight scope, a silencer and even a semi-automatic function (Which is actually surprisingly rare in sniper rifles).

"Well, that's far too coincidental for comfort, but I'll take it." Jimmy said. Cindy snatched the weapon out of his hands.

"I'm the better shot." Cindy said, holding out a hand to forestall any arguments.

Jimmy nodded grudgingly, watching Cindy raise the sniper rifle and bend her head over the stock, squinting into the scope, she watched as the two people appeared as heat blurs, She flicked a switch on the scope and the picture changed to a high-res image. She watched as the killer dragged Carl over to the pool, and stood him up against the ladder, Carl, bound and gagged, struggled and squirmed, but then shot stock still, petrified by the image before him.

The killer raised a long, jagged knife and Carl backed against the ladder, eyes widening in fear.

Cindy gritted her teeth and fired. She stumbled back, slamming into the wall with the recoil and watched as the glass in front of her shattered, it felt like every thing was happening in slow motion, the killer swung down with the knife, and then was lifted up in the air, blood spurted everywhere and the killer collapsed onto the floor, halfway in the pool.

Sheen whopped and punched the far glass wall in joy, the glass, weakened by the shot, shattered.

"AHH!" Sheen screamed as he tumbled out through the opening. He flailed wildly as he fell and managed to grab a support beam under the bridge.

Jimmy locked his feet in the wall and shot out his hand.

"GRAB MY HAND!" He shouted and Sheen gritted his teeth, pulling himself into the air in a wild, breakneck, leap, Sheen's fingers connected with Jimmy's and Jimmy grabbed them. As he started to pull his friend up, he felt his fingers slipping through Sheen's.

"NO!" Jimmy shouted as he felt Sheen's hand disappear in his. He watched his friend, an inch away, flailing wildly as he fell…

A/N: Does he die? Does he live? Find out next chapter! Please review!


	11. Chapter 11: Two of a Kind

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

**Two of a Kind**

"AHHH!" Sheen let loose a scream of terror that chilled Jimmy to the bone as he fell.

"NOOO!" Jimmy screamed.

Sheen felt himself hit the water hard, the icy cold piercing him like a knife.

He sank like a rock for twenty feet before he stopped flailing, holding onto his breath, he tore at the water frantically, trying to swim to the top, to a shimmer of light surrounded by thin ice.

He swam as fast as he could, lungs screaming for air. Black spots started forming in his vision, his eyes hurt, he felt exhausted, pain stabbing from his lungs as his brain begged for oxygen. If Jimmy had been there, he could have told him these were the first signs of oxygen deprivation, eventually he would either fade into unconsciousness, or open his mouth reflexively and try to breath. That eventuality was closer than he thought.

He was three, maybe four feet from the surface now, but his lungs felt fit to burst, as his strength faded, adrenaline shot, his mouth shot open and he sucked in a breath, only to find the icy cold seawater. His eyes shot wide open, bloodshot as he clawed at the water in a silent scream, as water rushed into his mouth, Libby's face appeared in his vision, the image echoed throughout his brain, reverberating, and the clawing stopped. With that thought, Libby's face, looking up at him, with love, an awful finality dawned on his brain, and then darkness took him.

"Sheen…no…" Jimmy choked.

Jimmy felt tears drip down his face, for the first time in what seemed to be forever, he was crying.

"Carl." Jimmy started. "CARL!"

Then his came to him, Carl! Carl was down there by the pool, not moving.

Jimmy turned and ran down the metal catwalk they were on and down a ladder.

"Carl!" Jimmy said, running over to his best friend. The killer's body, had disappeared.

"Carl." Jimmy said. His friend had a long cut on his cheek that was bleeding badly and a lump on his forehead.

Jimmy looked around and seized a metal bucket of ice from the bar behind them. He dumped the ice out and filled it with seawater from the pool, he poured a little on Carl's head, and when that didn't work, dumped the whole thing on his friend's chest.

"Whoah!" Carl screamed, jerking upright.

"Carl, what happened? Are you okay?" Jimmy asked, thankfull that any tears running down his face could be confused with seawater he had splashed on his head when he dumped it out, soaking his hair.

"Sort of, I left the base to go find a bathroom, and I was walking by the pool when all of a sudden I get hit on the head from behind. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground and the killer is leaning over me with a knife, I must've gotten the cut when I fell." He said, touching the gash on his head.

"Carl…Sheen…fell." Jimmy said softly.

"Fell, from where?" Carl asked.

"Up…up there." Jimmy said.

As comprehension dawned on Carl's face, tears started to form in his eyes.

"Come on…we've got to go get the others, and tell Libby…" Jimmy said, his voice was soft, sad, but inside he was in a burning rage, whoever this killer was, he was about to die!

As they walked, Jimmy's mind was working like a storm, churning up new ideas by the second, but one thought boomed above all the others, James. He had given them the sniper rifle, with the cryptic message, you might need it. He had known, why else would he think that a sniper rifle would come in handy more than any of their other weapons.

"Cindy." He said quietly as they headed down a carpeted hallway to their base. "Do you think James knew? I mean, he gave us this sniper rifle, told us we might need it…do you think he's behind this?"

"Maybe. But remember, we could've gone any number of ways back…which means, that either he was thinking ahead, or…if he is the killer, than…" She broke off in horror.

"We'll be needing it again! Soon!"

Cindy nodded glumly.

"As they turned a corner and pushed open the door with Windjammer written on it, they heard a very familiar voice…

"Why hello Jimmy." It was Sheen, but no, whomever it was was standing in the shadows, and when he stepped out, it was the killer, he pocketed his voice scrambler and raised a pair of Japanese Samuri short swords.

"You bastard!" Jimmy screamed, pulling out his shotgun and pumping the slide.

"Why Jimmy, that's not nice." He said tauntingly, and, sheathing one of his swords, raised the fist again, clutching a box."

"Your friend is hurt, she had blood poisoning." He started.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you!"

"Go ahead, fire away." The killer said tiredly and pocketed the box. Jimmy screamed and started firing, after fifteen shots, the crack of gunfire changed to a dull click, the sound of the hammer hitting metal, all out of ammo.

"As Jimmy fumbled for a weapon, the killer, seemingly unharmed by the barrage of fire spoke again.

"You idiot, this box contains the medicine you need to save her, penicillin."

Jimmy dropped the knife he was holding. Fumbling to pick it up, he eyed the killer warily. "And why should I trust you?"

"Because you have no other choice. James didn't have penicillin, did he? No. But I do, and, if you don't want it, than you doom her."

"Why would you give it to us?"

"Who said I was going to give it?"

Jimmy let loose a primal scream of rage and charged forward, with the knife. The killer pocketed the box and, lashing out with his sword, smashed the knife from Jimmy's hands.

"Jimmy, catch!" Cindy yelled, tossing her handgun to him. He caught it and pulled the slide back, checking that it was loaded.

The killer sighed melodramatically. "You cannot shoot me with any sort of firearm you complete idiot, have you ever heard of bulletproof fiber?"

"Who said I was going to shoot you?" Jimmy asked and hit him as hard as he could on the temple with the butt of the gun.

The killer dropped like a stone. Jimmy bent down and ripped off his mask. The man's face was hideously scarred and unrecognizeable.

Jimmy raised the gun to the killer's forehead, and fired, once, twice, three times, he kept on firing until the gun clicked resolutely, out of ammo.

"He's dead?" Cindy asked. And Jimmy nodded, he pulled the box out of the killer's pocket, and stood up.

"Come on." He said. As they left he turned to face the killer. "That was for Sheen!"

The room was deathly still, and then, like something from some disgustingly ironic horror film, the killer sat up, and ripped the bulletproof flesh mask from his face…"Bravo Jimmy, you've doomed your friend in honor of the idiot boy. Two down, three to go."

And from behind the wall, another figure wearing black ninja clothing smiled at the TV set he was watching. "A perfect pawn." He said, eyeing the other killer with a cruel smile…

A/N: Please review, I need to know if the story is still as good as it was earlier!


	12. Author's Note

The truth is, I'm a procrastinator by habit. Hence the immense lack of updates. But, I'm making serious changes, mainly because it's not a great asset at boarding school, but, the fallback on fanfiction is a serious change in my story style, hence…I will (Sadly) have to cut some stories I've posted, and, I've sadly resigned myself to write one story until it's finished, this is a major variation for me. I have at least fifteen to twenty stories that I have anywhere between one to three chapters for that may not every be read by another human being, let alone be posted on fanfiction. I also have a preposterous amount of ideas, but I'm only going to be focusing on the best. (If you want an idea or even the first or second chapter(s) to said idea, you know where to look. I'm also changing my writing style, most of you have noticed my story pace goes anywhere between fast (Example: Cruise to Danger) to tedious and over-detailed (e.g. late chapters of Bounty) But, I'm changing it to Grisham style story pace (Between fast and breakneck) and I'm cutting down on pointless details and adding action, and plot twists. I'll finish Bounty with a new pace and postpone the sequel until after Cruise to Danger and my next story (Survival of the Fittest) title subject to change. The sequel will be all action, betrayal, love that might never be and a battle for life or death.

Since I promised you an interesting Author's note and not a preaching, here are some previews for upcoming stories. (Oh and I need your input for which stories get axed, tentative list: Timemline, Break My Heart, and others)

Survival of the Fittest:

"We're trapped. We'll never make it out!" Cindy said, fear gnawing at her voice.

"What if I don't care?" Jimmy said wearily.

"I love you, you've got to help me!"

"I used to love you…I really did…"

"You can love again."

"Not if we die." Jimmy said cuttingly, and passed out…

Bounty:

As Carl struggled to crawl towards them, his world slowly fading as the gash on his side bled, ignoring the pain and forgetting the first-aid kit in his backpack, Jimmy begged for Cindy's life.

"Take me instead!"

"Why would I do that?"

"I'll give you anything, I'll do it myself, I'll jump, just spare her!" Jimmy begged, falling to his knees, the pain of his wounds forgotten.

"Please…I love her…"

"I know, and I'll spare her…you only have to kill someone."

"Who…I'll do anything." Jimmy said as his tormenter's eyes lit up with malice.

"Carl."

"What?" Jimmy asked, shock in his face, could he do it, and even if he did, would Cindy even love him, could she love a killer?

Cruise to Danger:

"YOU!" Jimmy screamed.

"Goodbye Jimmy, you've caused the deaths of two of your friends so far, and now you too will die!"

"YOU BASTARD!"


	13. Chapter 12

Hey…if you've read the new chapter of Bounty, you'll know where to find an explanation for my long absence from writing, my profile…but never mind that now…'cause here comes chapter 12, with Libby's life in the balance. Oh and I might just reveal the killer, who knows…

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, I totally own Jimmy Neutron, that's why I'm here, writing fanfiction, instead of writing episodes, I mean really? Who do they think they're kidding? Yeah, because everyone thinks we own TV shows!

**What Could've Been**

The masked figure watching the other killer on his television screen sighed melodramatically, what a fool, but a useful fool. He thought, before lifting himself out of his chair and seizing the item laying on the counter, the one thing that he knew would drive Jimmy into a frenzy.

The other killer wondered who had left the spiked penicillin for him, but at the moment, didn't give a damn, it had worked, and that was all that mattered.

"Now I'll have my revenge, that bitch is gonna pay, she's gonna pay until I'm avenged, and then…she's going to die!" He said to himself, unaware that he was being played like the madman he was.

Jimmy clutched the penicillin in his sweat-drenched palm, almost dropping it twice. All he could see was the blurred outline of his surroundings, the rest seemed to be clouded by red, he was absolutely furious. He handed the medicine to Cindy, grabbed more ammo for his handguns, and a piece of iron tubing, one end was serrated after being snapped from the rest of the ship.

Clutching his improvised, weapon he ran off in search of the killer.

Cindy and Carl bent down next to Libby and Cindy gently whispered to Carl. "I think we should save the news until when she feels a little better."

Carl nodded and began getting the right dose of medicine out of the bottle.

"She needs an overdose at least three times the regular, try four times for good measure!" Cindy said, unwilling to trust this important task to the likes of Carl.

The man in the black ninja suit was watching from the shadows as Jimmy raced by, yelling in rage. He followed him out onto the deck and watched the boy scream his frustration to the star strewn indigo sky. Almost as if on que, the other killer burst out of a doorway. Knife in hand.

The first killer nodded to himself and shrunk back into the shadows.

Jimmy turned around and, catching sight of the killer hurled the pipe, which the man dodged before lunging forward with the knife, another miss. What a pathetic pair of fighters, the first killer thought to himself.

Jimmy charged the man, ducking underneath his outstretched arm bearing the knife in order to seize the pipe he had thrown. As Jimmy ran past him, the killer whirled and ripped a handgun out of his waistband.

"Freeze." The killer said, leveling the gun at Jimmy who was in the middle of straightening up, pole in hand.

The killer in the shadows saw Jimmy's hand inch behind his back to the gun he knew was there and decided it was time to act. He stepped out of the shadows, drawing a sawed off shotgun and a knife, thoroughly shocking the two combatants. He effortlessly aimed the still heavy firearm at Jimmy and pressed the knife tip to the back of the other killer's neck.

"Good, now that I have your attention, drop your weapons or die." The killer said.

Jimmy dropped the pipe and his hand whipped out from behind his back. The killer slung the shotgun over his shoulder on it's strap and jumped into the air acrobatically, grabbing an overhead pole exposed by missing ceiling tiles. He twisted around as Jimmy's fire missed him by inches before drop kicking the other killer.

The other killer turned in shock as something hit him with the force of a sledgehammer, he felt an instant of blinding pain as stars exploded in his vision, which had erupted into painful brightness before being thrown off his feet and slamming into a wall. One-which he slid down as he felt himself slip into unconsciousness.

The only killer left standing dodged another wave of bullets and hurled his weighted knife at Jimmy, which hummed through the air perfectly before burying itself in Jimmy's arm. The teenager fell to his knees, ripping out the knife and clutching a hand to his wound, screaming in agony as he fell backwards. He writhed on the floor in pain for a few agonizing seconds before his world went black.

Jimmy woke up tied to rivets on a steel floor; he tried to scream but instantly recoiled at the hideous taste of the gag in his mouth. He writhed in a vain attempt to free himself and felt a white-hot stabbing pain in his arm. He twisted his head to the side, the wound on his arm had been cleaned and there was a strip of some kind of gauze on it, whoever the killer was, he didn't want him dead yet. The other killer was tied down six feet to his left, the man was struggling fiercely.

And he was a man, Jimmy could tell now, he had medium length, brown hair and from here Jimmy knew that he was too bulky to be James, although, the other killer…

_Wait a minute!_ Jimmy's mind screamed, the other killer! There were two killers. That would explain how he had seemed to be everywhere at once, but the killer that had been attacking Carl, whoever that was should definitely be dead!

Before he could puzzle it out, the other killer, still in his or her ninja style clothing, walked into Jimmy's vision.

"You idiot." The killer walking towards them said, and Jimmy could tell whomever he or she was they were talking to the killer tied down next to him.

"You bastard." The killer said, still addressing the killer strapped down.

The killer slammed their foot into the other killer's side and the man grunted in pain.

"What's that?" The first killer asked cruelly, kicking the man so hard in the side of the head that blood started streaming down, soaking his hair and pooling on the floor.

"You disgust me." The first killer said and they pulled out a gun and cocking it.

"NO!!!" The tied killer screamed, his voice gone from tough to pathetic.

The first killer ripped off the second's mask and fired twice with the handgun. His face slumped to the side, blood covering it.

"Mr. Vortex?" Jimmy nearly screamed, his voice high-pitched and terrified. "You were supposed to be dead!"

"He is…now!" The first killer said, raising a foot, they brought it down and Jimmy's world exploded into stars.


End file.
